Task Force Member Profiles

William W. Altaffer, Esq.
Tucson, Ariz.

Bill Altaffer is an attorney who is deeply committed to improving the quality of life in his community and on our planet. He lives in Tucson with his wife, Colette.

Altaffer, 52, graduated with honors from Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., and earned his law degree from the University of Arizona College of Law. At the firm of Strickland & Altaffer, he served as associate general counsel to three Indian nations, assisting these governments in the interpretation of their constitutions and the enactment of environmental protection legislation.

Altaffer and his wife led the precedent-setting effort to enact the Inclusive Home Design Ordinance in Pima County, Arizona. This visitability ordinance requires that new single-family housing meet minimum accessibility requirements, thereby promoting the independence of people with disabilities. It’s currently the most progressive legislation of its type in the country.

Over the years, Altaffer has served on a variety of boards, commissions and committees whose goals are the promotion of world peace and the improvement of the quality of life for people with disabilities.

Altaffer is a member of the national task force steering committee, and is a member and past chairman of the Southern Arizona Task Force on Public Awareness. He was the recipient of MDA's 1995 National Personal Achievement Award. In 2002, Altaffer received the Tucson Human Relations Commission's Rabbi Albert T. Bilgray Make a Difference Award for his lifelong activism for human rights and social change based on the rule of law.

Altaffer has type 3 spinal muscular atrophy, also known as Kugelberg-Welander disease, which first appeared in childhood. The progressive condition involves weakness in the leg, hip, shoulder, arm and respiratory muscles.

Aaron Bates, Esq.
Orlando, Fla.

Aaron Bates, 30, is an attorney from Orlando, Fla., with type 2 spinal muscular atrophy who has been involved with MDA for several decades and in numerous states. Bates has played key leadership roles in state legislative efforts that have addressed the federal disincentives for young adults with disabilities who want to enter the workplace. He currently serves on a number of disability advisory boards within the state of Florida.  Bates obtained his undergraduate degree from Florida State University in three years and graduated from the FSU College of Law in only two-and-a-half, making him one of the youngest graduates of the college. Bates has utilized a wheelchair for mobility since age 3. He employs a personal attendant, who assists him with many of his daily living activities, including dressing, bathing and transfers.  However, Bates lost state funding for his personal care attendant after graduating from law school. State law dictated that funding for his attendant was to cease because he was vocationally “rehabilitated” upon graduation from law school. Bates was faced with the reality that it was not financially possible to live and work independently, as his personal care services were equivalent to his salary as an assistant state attorney. Through his lobbying efforts, Bates was instrumental in the enactment of the Florida Personal Care Attendant Program, which contributes funding for the employment of an attendant by disabled individuals who have achieved sustained, gainful employment.  After fighting for system-wide changes to benefit people with disabilities, Bates made the decision to venture out on his own with a former co-worker, forming Bates Mokwa PLLC in 2007. Today, Bates Mokwa handles general civil litigation, focusing on commercial and personal injury litigation.

Jan Blaustone
Nashville, Tenn.

Jan Blaustone, 55, is a Nashville-based author and speaker who focuses on family life and disability issues.

Her second book, Every Family is Special: Love Comes First, was published in 1994 by Fairview Press, and her first book, The Joy of Parenthood, in 1993 by Meadowbrook/Simon & Schuster. Her books have been endorsed by the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse and are used as counseling tools in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Blaustone earned a bachelor's degree in English from California State University, Sacramento. She has worked in advertising, as a fire fighter and as assistant to best-selling author H. Jackson Brown Jr. She volunteers with Canine Assistants of Alpharetta, Ga., has served as a volunteer consultant on special needs adoptions for Family & Children's Service of Middle Tennessee, and has served as a substitute teacher for Metro-Davidson County in Nashville.

She has assisted with MDA summer camp and was profiled on the national broadcast of the 1996 MDA Telethon. She has written for MDA's Quest magazine and various publications nationwide via wire services. She also participates as a member of the national task force steering committee and as a motivational speaker at MDA functions and support groups. In 1994, she was honored by the Nashville mayor's office for her efforts to promote a positive image of people with disabilities. She was the 2001 recipient of MDA's National Personal Achievement Award. She served two terms as president of MDA's Middle Tennesee and Southern Kentucky Chapter.

Blaustone enjoys activities involving children, fishing, boating, painting, gardening and photography. She has contributed four works of art to the MDA Art Collection. She lives in Nashville with her husband, Michael, and their 17-year-old son, Lee.

Blaustone has limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, which affects her shoulders, upper arms and legs. She uses a power wheelchair for mobiliy. She received a diagnosis in 1987.

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